Automobile liquid level indicator



- May 17, 1932. w. H. MuzzY AUTOMOBILE LIQUID LEVEL INDICATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed June 25, 1923 May 17, 1932. w. H. MUzzY AUToMoBLLE LIQUID LEVEL INMCATOR Filed June 25, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L. L O @n-m.-

k LN C WW m Patented May 17, 1932 UNITED STATES PATE NT oFrlcE WILLIAM-H. MUZZY, OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 STEWART-WARNER COR- PORATION, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION 0F VIItCurINI-A` AUTOMOBILE LIQUID LEVEL INDICATOR Application filed June 25,

parts associated with the braking mechanism 1 of an automobile whereby the indicator will be reconditioned'at/ the same time that the speed of the machine isreduced to qulet the 'contents of thefuel tank.x

Another object of the invention is to provide improved liquid level gaging elements in which external force is employed to move the several parts independently of the iioat element. f

A further object of the invention is to provide a float controlled depth element having free independent movement, and Va spring actuated member normally engagingV the. depth element and a spring wire connection for the indicator all so arranged and constructed that the wire is under tension when the indicator is being set to a new reading but is not under tension when atrest and controlling the new indication.

The invention also has other objects all of which will be hereinafter more particularly set forth and claimed. Y In the accompanying drawings forming partof'this specification:

Figure l represents a vertical section, partly in elevation and partly broken away, of a gasolinesupply applied thereto; y

Figure 2 representsa transverse section, partly in elevation, of the dash instrument tank with my improvements or indicator;

Figure 3 represents a detail longitudinal section through this dash instrument and connections; and Y Figure 4 represents a longitudinal section,

. partly in elevation, of the gage operating 1923. Serial No. 647,724.

wire and connections, and the brake pedal and brake mechanism of the machine.

In general description it may be said that while a float controlled freely moving depth gage element is old and well known, applicant is not aware of any free moving gage element with a distant indicator and a connecting wire operated by some part of the braking mechanism, or any other mechanism of an automobile that tends to bring the machine to rest and quiet the surface ofthe contents of the fuel tank from which the reading is taken. Y

`When anautomobile is in motion the contents of the fuel tank arein a constant state of agitation and the surface line or level of the fuel is constantly changing at any one given Vpoint.r This is causedby the uneven surface of the road over. which'the machine is travelling and this agitation. increases or decreases as the speed of the machine is increased or decreased. It is therefore very desirable that any reading of level taken from the surface of the fuel in the fuel tank should. be taken when the machine is travelling atl a reduced speed.V In the present in` vention this result'is automatically secured by reconditioning or resetting the Vindicator to a new level reading by the'same mechanism that tends to bring the machine toa lower speed or in fact stop it entirely if so desired.

There'are of course several elements in a car that affect its speed, such for instance as the brake mechanism, the clutch mechanism, the change gear mechanism, etc., but I have selected for illustration thel brake cork float 22 located in the tank rises and falls with the. level of the gasoline therein.

This lioat is pivotally mounted on the horizontal part 21 of a rod 2O by meansvof a thin metal sleeve 23 fast therein, the cork beingy held in placeby a cotter pinr24. The upper end of the rod 20 is soldered fast or otherwise secured to a toothed graduated stop element or plate 18 which is loosely pivoted on a supporting plate 7 by means of a journalscrew 19. By the above means the float is free to move and position the plate l18 whenever the latter is released from theilocking nose 16 of the locking and actuating lever 11. TheA plate 18 further carries a rod 61 havinga counterb'alance Aweight *62 'adjustable thereon 'by a screw 63. his"weight isto counterbalance the weight of the toothedpartof the plate and the rod 2O so that a small'float "maybe used and easily operated by the rise and YJfall ofthe gasoline in the tank. The-teeth 17 of the plate 18 fare unevenly spaced,.being smalland close togetheri'at vthe right and gradually increasin'g in size' and distance bet-Ween teeth,

toward theleft. By reference to Figure l of thedrawings-it will be seen thatthere aretten `ofthese teeth thus'leavin'gnine depressions intowhich the nose l'willlock. Thesenine 'positions of the platerepresent respectively eight equal divisions of the contentsofthe tank VVand `.ani indication-'o-empty. 'These divisions are noted onthe dash instrumentias 'OHWSVEv 1/85 WSSIM 5/8v 3/47 7/87 Fun' 4 As shown in Figure 1 the parts are inthe position they assume when'.the"tank isempty 18. The path-'of travel 'of thenoselabout the pivot 15 strikes a circlewhich'lies inside ofthe piv0t'19.V The plate 18fand the lever llthus form two members otatoggle construction which under the "impulsewof the spring 13, lock or wedge together in'-` such wise asl to prevent anylmovement of thecork float and its lever or rod 20 eXcept whenlthe lever 11 is drawn upward. The 'cork'rloat Vremains in its llocked-position even though .unsupported by .the Vgasoline v:andV when rv'released drops until the cork floats upon the. gasoline.

The flexiblesteelv'wire'S is solderedin the block 9 which ispivoted by screw 10 tothe 'end o-flthe leverzll.,v A pull on this .wire `will' thus draw thelev-er 11 'upwardfagainst' the tension of the spring 18.' This leaves theplate 18 free to assumesa'position in accordance 'with' the depth of 'the'gasoline inthev tank. l/Jhen' the pull Ton the-wire'8"is'releasedthelever 11 is pulled downward bythe spring until arrested by contacting-'withaand-locking on the plate 18. The wire 8 passes through an enclosing tube 3 formed oa coil of wire,thetwo making what i' is y'generally -known a as fthe Bowden tube.

As is 4well-known La tube ofthis character will Abe ordinarily tank. Y

leave the operating wirefree to move longitudinally while allowing the tube and wire to be passed about obstructions in the way of a free passage from the tank at the rear of the machine to the dash board at the front of the machine. lThe lamount Vot .power required however to'overcome thefriction. between the wire` and the tube and move the wire through about Jfourteen feet of tube is more than may supplied "by 'a-"lioat alone in the The tube atthe rear passes through th wall ot a cap 2 andis soldered fast thereto. This cap is secured on the tank over an opening 6 therein by rivets 2a. The plate or supzport `7Iis bent .at -anv angle atlits'top and securetlto the under side of the top 2, 'as at 4, by rivets'. *H f The tube 3 -is secured tothe frame 0r:body otthe car invany desirable manner and passes 'forwar'dito a kplate 40 lwhich llatter a is? secured under the floor 410i thecar by-bolts 42.1' The tube is secured to the plate byY a clip 46the wire 8 beyondzthe clip'being lsolderedfin a 'block 49' formed 'on asquare block 47 having two anti-frictionarollers 48 on v.one side thereot.. The block 47 carries a solidaste1n44- one endof whichprojects :into attube'45 secured by clip 46 to the :plate .40. .The forward. end

ofthetube 15 is split 'and is. forced" together i-i" As thisflever is oscillatedit rforces the stem 44a-back and forth. a Thelever is actuated by therbrake rod 55'having2a clip '54 whichfis connected to one end ofa coil spring 53,'the oppositeen'd of' the spring being hooked into one of'aseries of apertures 51 in the'lever 50. ,As the upperend of thelever 50fmust haveV about three inches `of travel or .better and asithe brake rods of different machines travel different distances,1the 'spring'. is hooked .into fthe proper fhole v51 invthelev'er tosecure this result: If the movement of the .brake rod is too much,v the spring is moved into y"the upperholel'and ifitstill'has a surplus of movement the spring''willexpand afterthe lever hascoine'to' rest; The forwardend ottherodf.isfpivotedI at 56 to anar1n 57 fasti on a rockshaft 711. This.

nected by rod 77 to toggle 78 of the'usual coul struction operating Yonv the brake band 79 to causeitto eng-age 'the brake drum 80. -v

It will be seen from the above that every time the brake is operated the lever 50 is operated and moves the wire 8 or gives it a pull forward. Just a slight movement of the wire (as when the brake is applied lightly) will be suiicient to disengage the nose 16 from the plate 18. The plate 18 then takes up a new position according to the level of the quieted gasoline in the tank and as the brake is released is again locked in position.

The forward end of the forward tube 3 is soldered in the rear end of a tube 38. The forward end of this tube is adjustably s-esured to an extension 36 of the gage casing 25, by a screw 37. This allows the tube 36 to be set back or forthin the tube 38 to adjust the indicator wheel 26 to the proper position when the device is first installed. This result may be also secured by adjusting the tube 3 back and forth in the forward end of the tube 45, or the rear tube 3 under the clip 46.

The forward end of the forward wire 8 is bent into a hook 39 which plays back and forth in the solid tube 38. A chain 33 is hooked over this hook and passes forward into the casing 25 from the rear. This casing is mounted by a flange 34 in any de- 'sired position in the instrument board so that the numerals on the wheel 26 may .be clearly seen through an opening 35 in the front of the casing. The chain 33 passes about a grooved wheel 31 soldered fast to wheel 26 and is secured to this grooved wheel by a pin 32. Both of the wheels 26 and 31k are broached or forced fast on a shaft 28 and are supported in place by washers 30 also broached on the shaft. The ends of the shaft 28 are pivoted in the casing 25. The wheel 26 is connected to one end of a coil spring`27, the opposite end of this spring being secured to the casing 25 by a screw 29. When the wheel 26 is rotated to indicate 0 as in Figure 2, the coil spring is wound up so whenv the chain 33 is allowed to rewind on the drum 31, the spring moves the drum and wheel in the proper direction.

It will be understood that this device is particularly adapted for us-e with different depths of tanks as the whole apparatus remains the same for different tanks with the exception of the plate 18 and its attachments. There is a different one of these plates for each depth of tank but in each case nine indications for the tank are still used. In other words all tanks are divided into eighths of contents no matter what their` shape may be or what their depth.

Applicant with the present invention is trying to provide a reliable dash gage which while it does not indicate in gallons may be made to do so if desired. The reliability of the device is founded on the fact that no small uncertain float is employed to move a wire through a tube but the, wire is moved in one direction by the power of the brake pedal and inthe other by a powerful spring. Further reliability is established becausea of the feature of locking all the parts rigidly in p ositionk except `when the brake is being operf ated. Thisresults in a minimum of Wear of the wire-'and other parts. Without lthe locking feature the constant surge of the gasoline in the tank will keep the parts constantly moving because of road vibrations.

Further reliability is added because at the time when the devices are indicating the wire 8 lies in its normal state in the ltube 3 without stretch or strain which would distort the tube 3 and cause a wrong indication. It is only when the parts are being reset that there is a temporary strain on the wire and any distortion of the tube 3 at this time will be immediately corrected when the strain isv released by letting up on the brake pedal. It will of course be understood thatthe clutch pedal, the change gear lever or any other part of the machine that has direct control of the speed of the car could also be used yto operate the gage wire as these parts `havea controlling influence on the agitation of the fuel in the fuel tank. Y

It will be understood that the location of the respective pivots 15 and 19 is such that the spring impulse of the nose 16 is to engage one of the teeth, 17, androtate theplate 18 toward the right and thus form a powerful toggle or double lever to jam the parts 18 and 11 in position against any possible de-V rangement by the vibrations of the road or the float 22 which latter at times is unsupported by the gasoline.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: 1. In an automobile the combination wit-h a fuel supply tank, of a depth indicating gage, a pivoted stop element in the tank having teeth disposed in a series eccentric to the pivot of the element, a float controlled means to rotatably position the stop element, a member having a projection for selectively engaging a tooth on the stop element, a wire and connections between the member and the gage,a spring for moving the member and thereby the connections and the wire in a direction 'such as to engage the member projection with the stop element tooth, a brake mechanism for arresting the speed of the automobile and a common means for operating the brake mechanism and moving the wire against the tension of the spring.

2. In an automobile the combination with a fuel supply tank, of a depth indicating gage, a pivoted stop element in the tank having a stop edge eccentric to its pivot, a float controlled means to rotatably position the stop element, a pivoted lever having a projection for engaging the eccentric stop edge of the stop element at different points to jam the Vlever and stop together-and against jtheir respective pivots, a Wire andfconnecti'onsbetWeenthe rlever and the gage, a spring '.for

' moving the lever and thereby the connections f and the Wire in a direction such as to engage the' lever projection With the stop element, a brake mechanism for arresting the speed ofthe automobile, and a common means for Voperating the brake mechanism and moving the Wire against the tension of the spring.

3. In an automobile the combination with a vfuel supply tank, of a depth indicating gage, a pivoted stop element in the tank having teeth disposed in a series eccentric to the pivot of the element, a float lcontrolled means to rotatably position the stop element, a pivot-ed lever having a projection for selectively engaging a tooth on thestop element, a Wire and connections between the lever and the gage, a spring for moving the lever and thereby the connections and the Wire in a direction such as to engage the lever projection and the stop element tooth and jam thetwo together, a brake mechanism for arresting the speed of the automobile and a common means for operating the brake mechanism and moving the wire against the tension of the'spring.

In testimony whereof I aiiX my signature. WILLIAMI-I. MUZZY. 

